Zamboanga City, Philippines, “The City of Flowers”
Nowadays, it is called “The City of Investment Opportunities.” Allow us to present to you a recent article that embodies the expansion of Zamboanga City as an investment haven.
Zamboanga City Business Forum Launched
By: Liza Abubakar-Jocson
A special project promoting Zamboanga City as an ideal investment destination was launched yesterday morning at the conference room of the City Hall. The project, known as the Zamboanga Business Forum, was initiated by the Zamboanga City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc. to promote the city's business potential and opportunities.
A proposal prepared by the Chamber and the Growth with Equity in Mindanao (GEM) has thus resulted in the project which will be held at the Westin Philippine Plaza in Manila on October 3 at 4:30 p.m. According to Investment Communications Specialist Sarita Hernandez, the project aims to invite commercial attaches of the different embassies, chief executive officers of various multinational companies and Manila-based Zamboanga businessmen for the purpose of generating investments for the city particularly the Zamboanga Ecozone and Freeport Authority. More than 100 business people are expected to attend the affair.
The project is embodied in a Memorandum of Agreement signed yesterday by three parties: The Zamboanga City Special Economic Zone and Freeport Authority represented by its Chairman Manuel Dalipe, the Zamboanga City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation, Inc., represented by its president Antonio Lim; and the Department of Trade and Industry represented by Provincial Director Severino Landingin. Witnessing the event were Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat representing the City of Zamboanga and Undersecretary Roldan Dalman of the Presidential Assistant for Regional Economic Concerns (PARECO). Also present were Manny Tan, head of the Western Mindanao Chamber of Commerce and GEM representative Pape Freire.
The MAO specified four objectives for the program: first, the general promotion of the city as an ideal business investment area; second, to showcase the city's economic growth areas; third, to disseminate information on the city's vast resources; and fourth, to establish the development of the city's economy.
In a later interview, Dalman spelled the need to normalize the situation in the region as well as spur business and economic activities for its development. "While the reality is confronted with problems, it's not to say that it's here in Zamboanga. These are isolated and temporary cases," Dalman pointed out. He also expressed the need to invest in the country especially at the Zamboanga Freeport and the different agro-industrial corridors of Zamboanga and its nearby environs such as Basilan, Misamis Occidental and Lanao del Norte.
Landigin, meanwhile, opined that the city is doing well in terms of business opportunities proven by the city's new business establishments and infrastructure development. "All these amount to vibrancy in the economy because money that goes into these projects have a way of multiplying," Landigin explained. Tan, for his part, said that they are committed to mobilizing all Zamboanga businessmen for this forum.
Meanwhile, Mayor Lobregat and Zamboanga Ecozone Chairman Dalipe expressed gratitude to all the agencies involved in the promotion of the city, particularly the Zamboanga Ecozone.
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